ISL diverged from Danish Sign Language after Iceland stopped sending deaf children to Copenhagen for schooling.
[citation needed] Previously, individuals in the hearing community have considered ISL as a tool on the path to learning spoken Icelandic.
More specifically, it intends to improve quality of life and fight for equal opportunities for its members.
It represents Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Finland, and the Faroe Islands.
The results of the study concluded that the participants feel as though equality to hearing individuals has not been achieved.
"[14] According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Iceland stated it "aims to promote independent living, combat prejudice and social exclusion, and involve persons with disabilities in decision-making processes" in an action plan adopted by the government in 2016.
[18] Before the school for the Deaf was established in Reykjavík, children were sent to the Royal Institute for the Deaf-Mute in Copenhagen.
Under the new principal, Brandur Jónsson, oralism became the method of learning in the classrooms and all signing was banned.
The renewed educational goal was to teach children to speak and understand spoken Icelandic.
In the 1980s, the education policy changed again; oralism proved unsuccessful as a teaching method and signing took precedent, although spoken Icelandic and lip-reading were primarily taught.
New teaching methods and a shift to highlight ISL and Deaf culture and education became the school's main focus.
The school did not have a Deaf principal until 1996, when bilingualism (ISL and written Icelandic) were the main educational goals.
[19] Besides paying for boarding, school supplies, and registration fees, tuition for all students is free.
[22] The Ministry of Higher Education issued a National Qualification Framework for Iceland (80/2007) [16] with no mention of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing population in Iceland although, according to a country report done in 2018, clauses address discrimination towards disabled students, noting that it is not possible to meet their needs.
There is limited information about legislation and policies concerned with vocational training for disabled individuals seeking employment and especially for Deaf and hard of hearing people in the region.
[citation needed] Research by the Designs Project on employment for Deaf signers in Europe[23] concluded that it is quantitatively hard to determine how Deaf signers fare in the workplace and to what extent education has an impact on employment outcomes.
According to the Karolinska Institute of Sweden, neonatal screening is performed for "well" and "at-risk" babies in Iceland.
At-risk refers to babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who are considered to be at risk for hearing loss.
[25] The National Hearing and Speech Institute of Iceland, Heyrnar- og talmeinastöð Íslands (HTÍ), was established in 1978.
[28] Issues that would pose a threat to ISL are mainly due to external forces like technology, increased immigration and use of foreign languages, as well as demographic changes.
[29] This change to the linguistic landscape pose a threat to native ISL and its use moving forward as people acquire language skills other than Icelandic.